Where Do New Yorkers Come From?

Throughout it’s nearly 400-year history, New York City’s demography has been characterized by an ever-changing series of immigration waves, coming from all corners of the globe.

The graphic below shows how these waves of immigration have varied over time. The circles represent each group’s share of New York City’s foreign-born population in the given year.

Hover over the graphic for more information.

Composition of New York City’s foreign-born population by place of origin, 1626-2013

Note:

Census statistics on country of origin are only available as far back as 1850. I estimated the figures for earlier years based on a variety of sources, explained below.

Prior to 1776, all New York City residents are treated as foreign born.

Credit to Asif Rahman for his awesome D3 punchcard implementation.

What About the Native Americans?

A 1626 letter to the Dutch government describing the purchase (translation)

Native Americans are not included in the chart because their population went to zero as soon as the Dutch bought Manhattan Island in 1626. At that time, and until the five boroughs were consolidated in 1898, New York City included Manhattan only.

However, they did continue to inhabit the lands around Manhattan, and had a quite significant impact on the City’s history.

In 1641, an attempt by the Dutch to solicit taxes from the natives led to a violent conflict known as Kieft’s War, which nearly wiped the Dutch out.

The Dutch ultimately beat the natives, but they were left in a weakened position, one which the British took advantage of in 1664 when they captured New Amsterdam and renamed it New York.

Had it not been for Kieft’s War, the British may have never taken New York. And the history of the New York, and of the country, might have played out very differently.

Sources

For 1850 to the present, the information above comes directly from the Census’ dicennial surveys. All of it exists somewhere on the census.gov website, but for anything before about 1990, it is extremely difficult to find and to work with. Fortunately, there are some great resources there that have made this data much more accessible.

The University of Virginia’s Historical Census Browser is not quite as comprehensive, but the format of the information is much easier to work with.

For the years prior to 1850, the information available is scarce. Much of the estimates are based on one-off reports by city or state officials and personal accounts of people who lived during the period.

17th Century

For the 17th century, the best information available comes from New Yorke Considered and Improved, the accounts of John Miller, a Chaplain who lived in New York in the 1690s.

Miller’s breakdown of the population by religion provides a pretty clear picture of New York’s demographics in 1695.

For the earlier part of the century, I looked to various records that list the City’s residents by name, and cross referenced the last names against various surname origin databases. One such list is from the Castello Plan, a 1660 map of lower Manhattan, including the names of property owners.

The map, available as part of the NYPL Historical GIS Project, is itself pretty interesting. Seeing it overlaid on the current map of lower Manhattan shows how much of the land is man-made. Not surprisingly, what is now Water Street used to be part of the East River.

Also clearly visible is the wall at the settlement’s northern border, the current-day location of Wall Street.

19th Century

This 1810 letter, which ranks New York City’s demographic groups in terms of size, comes from Timothy Dwight’s Travels in New-England and New-York. According to his description, “immigrants” from New England, represent roughly two-fifths of the City’s population.

In 1810, the population of Manhattan had nearly tripled in the 27 years since the Revolutionary war ended, mostly due to an influx of migration from New England.

For the later half of the 19th century, national origin information comes directly from the Census Dicennial Surveys.

One ancillary piece from the Census data that I found interesting was the statistics on occupations, many of which I had never heard of. The table below has the full breakdown for New York City in 1850.

A few of my favorites:

“Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc.” – an estimated 5,802 people

“Hucksters and peddlers” – 844 people

“Gentleman” – 316 people

New York City Occupations, 1850

Occupation

Employment

Laborers (not specified)

19199

Clerks in stores

14874

Sailors

7595

Tailors and tailoresses

7173

Boot and shoemakers

6646

Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc.

5802

Carpenters and joiners

5802

Traders and dealers (not specified)

5696

Other non-occupational response

3587

Blacksmiths

3270

Masons (brick and stone)

3165

Traders and dealers in groceries

2954

Employees of hotels and restaurants (not clerks)

2848

Cabinet makers

2743

Printers, lithographers, and stereotypers

2321

Porters and laborers in stores warehouses

2004

Painters and varnishers

2004

Ship carpenters, caulkers, riggers, and smiths

2004

Hat and cap makers

1899

Machinists

1899

Butchers

1793

Sawyers

1793

Employees of government (not clerks)

1688

Marble and stone cutters

1688

Gold and silver workers and jewelers

1582

Bakers

1371

Coopers

1371

Engineers and firemen

1160

Others in manufacturing, mechanical, and mining industries

1160

Cigar makers

1055

Tinners and tinware makers

1055

Barbers and hairdressers

949

Lawyers

949

Musicians (professional) and teachers music

949

Physicians and surgeons

949

Saloon keepers and bartenders

949

Iron and steel works and shops operatives

949

Hucksters and peddlers

844

Traders and dealers in produce and provisions

844

Cotton-mill operatives

844

Harness and saddle makers

844

Steam-boiler makers

844

Wood turners, carvers, and woodenware makers

844

Upholsterers

738

Farmers and planters

633

Artists and teachers of art

633

Domestic servants

633

Soldiers, sailors, and Marines (Army Navy)

633

Bookkeepers and accountants in stores

633

Traders and dealers in drugs and medicines

633

Bookbinders and finishers

633

Broom and brush makers

633

Clock and watchmakers and repairers

633

Pianoforte makers and tuners

633

Clergy

527

Hotel keepers

527

Bankers and brokers

527

Traders and dealers in boots and shoes

527

Brass founders and workers

527

Confectioners

527

Plumbers and gasfitters

527

Student

527

Boarding- and lodging-house keepers

422

Officials of government

422

Traders and dealers in cigars and tobacco

422

Traders and dealers in dry foods, fancy foods, and notions

422

Gun- and lock-smiths

422

Leather curriers, dressers, finishers, and tanners

422

Plasterers

422

Woolen-mill operatives

422

Hostlers

316

Showmen and employees of shows

316

Teachers and scientific persons

316

Traders and dealers in books stationary

316

Traders and dealers in clothing and men's furnishing goods

316

Traders and dealers in lumber

316

Weighers, gaugers, and measurers

316

Blind, door and sash makers

316

Builders and contractors (not specified)

316

Employees in manufacturing estabs. (not specified)

316

Leather case and pocket-book makers

316

Sail and awning makers

316

Tool and cutlery makers

316

Gentleman

316

Auctioneers

211

Journalists

211

Restaurant keepers

211

Others in professional and services

211

Boatmen and watermen

211

Milkmen and milkwomen

211

Officials and employees of trade and transportation companies (not specified)

211

Pilots

211

Steamboat men and women

211

Stewards and stewardesses

211

Traders and dealers in iron, tin, and copperware

211

Traders and dealers in liquors and wines

211

Traders and dealers in music and musical instruments

211

Traders and dealers in oils, paints, and turpentine

211

Britannia and japanned ware makers

211

Carriage and wagon makers

211

Engravers

211

Gilders

211

Glass-works operatives

211

Manufacturers

211

Paper-mill operatives

211

Gardeners, nurserymen, and vine-growers

105

Chemists, assayers, and metallurgists

105

Clerks in government offices

105

Collectors and claim agents

105

Dentists

105

Officers of the Army and Navy

105

Watchmen (private) and detectives

105

Agents (not specified)

105

Clerks and bookkeepers in banks

105

Commercial travelers

105

Employees of railroad companies

105

Salesmen and saleswomen

105

Shippers and freighters

105

Traders and dealers in coal and wood

105

Undertakers

105

Apprentices to trades

105

Bleachers, dyers and scourers

105

Boat makers

105

Candle, soap, and tallow makers

105

Carpet makers

105

Chemical-works employees

105

Fishermen and oystermen

105

Fur workers

105

Meat packers, curers, and picklers

105

Millers

105

Milliners, dressmakers, and seamstresses

105

Pattern makers

105

Pump makers

105

Rag pickers

105

Railroad builders and contractors

105

Rope and cordage makers

105

Trunk, valise, and carpet-bag makers

105

Wheelwrights

105

Wire makers and workers

105

Retired

105

If you are interested in the history of New York City, here is a stunning video released by the New York Times last Sunday – a 500 year animated timelapse from the perspective of One World Trade Center.

I'm an NYC-based entrepreneur (my newest project: Blueshift) and adjunct instructor at UPenn. I'm fascinated by data visualization and the ways that data is transforming our understanding of the world. I spend a lot of time with my face buried in Excel, and when I find something interesting I write about it here and also as a Guardian Cities and Huffington Post contributor.More about my background

Great graphic, but the log scale at the bottom makes it very hard to tell the change in magnitude in immigration. Most people, I suspect, aren’t going to catch that. Also the related absolute size of the populations is hidden by using the percentage method for the circles. Not sure how to improve that. It may just be too much info for this kind of graphic.

http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka

Completely agree about a log scale not being so intuitive, especially for a bar chart. Though with the population going from 270 to 8M, a linear scale was just not possible.
Someone suggested that I should consider a pictograph for the next one. http://imgur.com/eKR5DUD

Matthew Gilmore

You could label each bar in the bar chart, at least. That would help.

Gunther Ulvanget

I think the log scale is fine, however the size of the bars makes it hard to see a jump of 1 million to 3.5 million (1880-1900), have you considered making part of the bars represented by foreign born?

Luis Antonio Guerra

What about the Puerto Rican population?

http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka

Since it is part of the U.S., I did not include Puerto Rico as part of NYC’s foreign born population. Though they are one of the City’s biggest cultural groups, and have been for the last 50 years. People of Puerto Rican descent make up about 9% of the population.